- Nigerians must unite to make our courts truly independent
When the Chief Justice of a country speaks, he deserves attention; whatever he says cannot be ignored. So, when the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) said the country’s judiciary is in bondage, all lovers of democracy and rule of law should feel sufficiently worried. Money may not answer to everything; but it answers to many things. Indeed, a judiciary that is cash-starved is no judiciary; it is truly a judiciary in bondage.
Chief Justice Tanko Muhammad bared his mind on the worrisome trends affecting the judiciary last week Monday, at the special court session marking the beginning of the 2019/2020 legal year of the Supreme Court and the inauguration of 38 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs). He also spoke of the need for all citizens and governments to obey court orders, poor salaries of judicial officers, among other worrisome trends in the judiciary.
Justice Muhammad likened the country’s judiciary to a cow that is tied firmly to a tree and yet is expected to graze freely in the meadow. According to the CJN, “If you say that I am independent, but in a way, whether I like it or not, I have to go cap in hand asking for funds to run my office, then I have completely lost my independence. It is like saying a cow is free to graze about in the meadow but at the same time, tying it firmly to a tree. Where is the freedom?”
We join Justice Muhammad in asking: “where indeed is the freedom”? The late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah made a similar analogy when he said political independence without economic independence is useless.
We wonder whether there is a grand conspiracy between the executive and legislative arms of government to keep the third arm, the judiciary, in this sorry state where it has to go cap in hand begging for funds. This is not just tantamount to a disregard for the rule of law; it is also bad for the principle of separation of powers. The principle vests the legislative, executive, and judicial powers of government in separate bodies. The idea is to ensure that none of the arms becomes overbearing as to lead to abuse of powers. Each arm is expected to act as checks and balances on the other for the ultimate good of the society.
But what we have in the country is a situation where both the executive and the legislative arms treat the judiciary as an extension of the other two arms. As a matter of fact, they seem comfortable seeing the judicial officers going about looking for funds. In this situation, how can we be talking of an unfettered judiciary? We are all familiar with the saying that “he who pays the piper dictates the tune”. Although the CJN tried to give the impression that despite this financial challenge, the courts still “don’t pander to anybody’s whims and caprices. If there is any deity to be feared, it is the Almighty God. We will never be subservient to anybody, no matter his position in the society,” we know this is easier said than done.
We deplore the continued subjugation of the judiciary to the other arms of government. The courts are the last hope of the common man. So, nothing that can compromise the independence of such an essential arm of government should be encouraged.
We therefore call on all lovers of democracy to challenge this state of affairs. It is not a matter for the judicial officers alone but one that all Nigerians must show sufficient interest in. We are all in chains when the judiciary is in chains. Lawyers, judges, the civil society and indeed all Nigerians must stand to be counted in the effort to extricate the judiciary from the apron strings of the executive arm of government. A situation where the independence of the judiciary is in doubt can only encourage chaos. Although not a few Nigerians would say the corrupt judicial officers would remain corrupt no matter what the society does to gift them good life, it is still better to give the arm of government all that we can afford to make life meaningful for the judicial officers. It is only then that we can stand on a strong moral pedestal to demand untainted justice delivery that we can all be proud of.
